The race to succeed Rep. Tom Davis will be close, and things are looking up for GOP nominee Keith Fimian:

Republican Keith Fimian has continued to out fund-raise Fairfax County chairman Gerry Connolly (D) in the race to replace Rep. Tom Davis in Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

Fimian had raised nearly $1.3 million to Connolly’s $936,484 as of June 30. The Republican, who has never run for public office before, has an even bigger advantage when it comes to “cash on hand” — money that has not already been spent by the campaign.

Fimian, who did not face a Republican primary opponent, still had nearly $1 million in the bank at the end of June. Connolly, who faced three Democratic challengers in an expensive primary June 9, had only $275,990 at the same point.

Fimian also performs well in fund raising when compared to his peers across the country. According to Congressional Quarterly, Fimian is the fifth best-financed candidate in the nation competing for an open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Among Republicans in that same category, he is ranked second.

Keith Fimian already had the ideas and principles to win this November and now he has the money to see that all of Virginia’s 11th District knows it.